


The Hunting of the Snark

by Merfilly



Series: Slade Verse [6]
Category: DCU Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe, Mirror Universe, Multi, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-17
Updated: 2012-09-17
Packaged: 2017-11-14 10:18:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/514175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wilson family seeks their missing children and that leads Black Canary into new dangers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hunting of the Snark

**Author's Note:**

> Story originally begun in 2006, multiple revision. Not backdated due to more revisions.
> 
> Characters from Timm-Verse JLU, Teen Titans GO!, and Birds of Prey comics

The two fighters came in holding each other up, blood still oozing from under hastily tied pressure bandages on each. Dinah dropped the satellite scans she was reviewing to move to them.

"ROSE!" she called. "WINTERGREEN!" She winced in worry as Slade had to lean heavily on her, while Jade more or less pooled to the floor, barely conscious, despite Dinah’s reaching hands. Both of the other house occupants came running; Rose still somewhat awkward in her motions as she adjusted to seeing from only one eye, and Wintergreen with a pallor at seeing the pair so ravaged. "Get Jade," Dinah told the older man.

"We have a lead," Slade managed to say, around a severely bruised larynx. In three weeks, the family, along with Black Adam, had searched endlessly for the missing children, without much result and a lot of injury. Rose had lost one eye in a macabre parody of her father’s injury, facing the traitor Shade. He had escaped custody, but was trapped in their world, knowing the Justice League had figured out how to contain all shifts to their world. Canary was home now with her, strictly to look over fresh intelligence from their extended web of informants. Slade had gone out on the strongest of these, taking Jade with him for her knowledge of Asia. Apparently, it had paid off in some way.

"Shh. Let me get you patched up." Dinah was thankful to her daughter as the young woman slipped under her father’s other arm, and they all went into the small surgery room. Wintergreen inspected both patients, but concentrated on patching Jade’s injuries when he realized she would bleed to death faster than his old friend due to the location of her wounds. Dinah was an able surgeon herself, for this kind of work. She removed Slade’s armor, thankful he had been wearing it in layers, as she saw how many bullets he had been hit with.

"The Owl Brat," Slade hoarsely whispered. "He’s got our son." She nodded; they had thought that might be the case, as they knew it had been UltraBoy who abducted Lance and Lian. Slade grunted as Dinah poured alcohol over all the penetrations to clean them. His blood ran in rivulets with the alcohol, making her set her jaw more firmly for the necessary evil of removing shrapnel and slugs.

"We’ll catch the little…" She cut herself off as she got the tools of the trade, and nodded sharply. With a patient hand and steady flow, the blonde removed every sliver of metal that had penetrated her husband’s skin. He remained silent, wincing a few times, but mostly tuning out the pain. He focused on his daughter, assisting Wintergreen in stitching up the unconscious Jade. When Dinah finished, he could feel the lightheadedness of too much blood loss and the wearing down from his adrenaline high. The feel of Dinah’s slim shoulders under his arm was refreshing, as he let her help him upstairs to his bed.

"Look to the League of Assassins for our next move," he told his wife groggily. "Cain…girl. She is the lead."

"I will, Slade," she promised, getting him to his bed with an effort. He managed to smile at her when she covered him, then closed his eyes under her kiss. He was quickly fading into slumber as he heard her close the door.

`~`~`~`~`

Rose helped Jade finish packing a small bag, still troubled by the plan her father had put forward for the next phase in finding her brother. The League of Assassins were a shadowy group they knew little of, and to have to go to them for assistance brought too many unknown factors into play, especially when Jade was still so weak from her injuries. The fact Dinah was going too made this gambit less appealing to the young mercenary.

"Don’t worry so much, Rose," Jade told her. "If they make us prove ourselves, I am confident your mother can handle the challenges. They are unlikely, from what we do know, to make me fight."

"And if you are wrong? You are in no shape to test yourself against a seasoned killer." Rose’s jaw got tight as Jade turned toward her.

"For your brother, and my daughter; have faith in me." The Amerasian then fastened her last bag, this one containing her serums and ingredients to make more. She moved close to Rose, cupping the other woman’s chin briefly. "I will return to you. And we shall gain the ally we need to retrieve the children." They moved closer, drawn by all they had shared, and kissed briefly, before Jade went to join Black Canary.

The blonde was wearing her Searcher’s Inc. uniform for a rare change, the black trimmed in orange, and the distinctive mask hanging from her belt. Slade was adjusting the belt now, while the small woman rattled off instructions to Wintergreen. Jade thought she could count the number of times her lover’s mother had worn the uniform on one hand.

"Our colors never looked so good," Slade murmured in Dinah’s ear as he straightened to tower over her. She gave him a tight, controlled smile; the coldness in her eyes worried him more than he cared to admit. Since Joey’s last attack on them, and especially since returning to learn Lance had been abducted, the small fighter had drawn deeper into herself than Slade would have thought possible. "I’ll continue to put the pressure on Owl’s minions, wife."

"I just hope this isn't a wild goose chase, to go all the way to Istanbul for the rumor of a myth of a woman," Dinah said, taking up the impersonal mask to put it on. Jade did likewise, keeping her counsel for now.

"The rumors of Shiva have been persistent ones, and you yourself said that your Sensei, in your world, had a student who walked a different path than you." Slade kept his voice expressionless as he walked them to their small flier. Wintergreen’s face said it for both of them; Black Canary did not belong behind a mask.

"Wintergreen," Dinah called, her voice flat and neutral now with the mask’s built in circuitry. "Take care of our family." It was the closest she would come to goodbye, knowing how dangerous the mission was. She looked to Rose, who was holding herself close on the stairs leading up to her balcony. The white haired girl brushed at her remaining eye before waving and returning to her room.

"As always, Miss Dinah." Wintergreen imperturbably ushered Slade back as the two departing women climbed into the flier. As soon as it was airborne, Slade turned to the man he trusted more than himself at times.

"Well, old chum, back to beating bushes." The mission of finding his son was all consuming; he spared no worry to his wife because without their son, she was walking half alive as it was anyway.

`~`~`~`~`

"Canary," Jade began once they were airborne. "You should know something, now that Rose cannot hear this."

"What is it, Cheshire?" Canary concentrated on piloting the sleek airship, wondering how she ever got by in her old world on just a pair of wheels.

"The one we seek, the mother of Cain…She has vowed my death," Cheshire told her. "I was implicated in the death of the sensei Black Kestrel and she trained under."

"Did you do it?" The older woman was one to ask hard questions, because she had learned moral ambiguity reigned in this realm. It probably did in her own; just look at Helena and Question, with their methods.

"No. I swear on Lian's head." Jade kept her voice low and sincere. "If she demands my death, for her help, I give it, knowing you and your man will see to Lian's upbringing once she is found."

"No one will be dying today." Canary's voice was grim; Jade knew she had to be thinking of the children, much as she was.

"We will find them, my friend."

`~`~`~`~`

The Owl costume had been tailored to fit the more slender proportions of its current wearer, Lance noted as his captor entered the cell. He glanced briefly across the way into Lian's cell to see she was still unconscious from Ultraboy's casual discarding toss earlier in the day.

"It doesn't have to be this way," the soft-spoken Owlboy murmured to where Lance, even with his above human range, could barely hear. Of course, that also had something to do with the helmet and gagging mask they had on him. After he had managed to subvert the original control collar by humming long enough to short it out, they had been taking no chances. He still had some pleasure from the image of having made The Huntress shoot a bolt at Owlboy. "Just join me, become my new Talon." He looked up into the boy's eyes, seeing the defiance there. "Very well. I will cut your meals back to one every three days now, and hers to one every two. Eventually, you will give in," the slenderly built villain promised. "I'm positive your resistance to the drugs is a gift of your unique parentage, whereas hers…. perhaps I should have paid more attention to the mother involved there."

Lance merely glared at the man until he left. Owlboy had made a mistake. Lance would be able to count meals now, to keep his time sense intact. That small tactic of disorientation had been gripping him, leaving him to wonder how long it had been since he was taken. He would count, focus on the time spent here, and use that to block the growing despair for his missing parents and sister.

//Questing, searching, falling// The pressure behind his eyes was back, as he felt thoughts…or emotions, rather, that were not his own. In his heart, he thought it was Amoree, trying to find him with her magical powers. He just could not seem to project his presence to that feeling well enough for her to know she had found him, it seemed. In his thoughts, he felt a grim duty to her, to his parents, to survive these tests of his body and spirit, so they would be proud.

`~`~`~`~`

The two women in Searcher's Inc. colors were able to land the small flier near their objective, a remote village in Vietnam without much notice. Dinah had become as skilled a pilot as she was a driver, and Jade had to say the woman was taking no chances. Their intel that Shiva, mother of the one they truly needed, was currently in this village, training students in the deadly arts. It had taken them three days scouting in Istanbul to pick that rumor even.

"Sensei used to speak of a woman, my elder by a few years, whom he called Paper Monkey. From all you have told me on the flight here, I suspect this Shiva is the same, and that could mean difficulty over my identity," Dinah said.

"She is generally very well informed, though, and will likely not mistake you for Black Kestrel's mother."

"We'll soon see." The masked women had chosen to recon the territory, to see if their information sources had been accurate. Those plans were put to the test when each found signs of steady patrols, and vigilant sentries. When they had been in sight of the village for two hours, and had come no closer to learning Shiva's whereabouts, Dinah shook her head. "Direct approach, Cheshire." Without another word, she moved onto the obvious approach and started walking in. Only a few minutes passed, after her partner joined her before they found themselves surrounded.

Cheshire was made to hand over her weapons and small kit bag, while Black Canary was searched and had her bag confiscated under much confusion that she was unarmed. When one went to reach for Cheshire's mask, Black Canary moved, blocking him.

"No." She said it in English, and watched for reactions. Two among the eight around them seemed to know the word, and one of them shrugged, stepping forward.

"Why do Searchers come here?" he asked. Black Canary was pleased her decision to wear the uniforms had given them recognition.

"We seek the one called Shiva." Cheshire did the speaking now, keeping them off balance as to who was the one in charge.

"Only those who defeat a champion may speak to her," she was told immediately.

"Then let me fight the champion," Black Canary countered, her voice steady and low.

"As you wish; it is your funeral."

They were force marched into the center of the village, and kept under guard until a thin, whip-like man came out and stepped into a circle drawn in the dirt. He beckoned, and Dinah stepped forward quickly. Jade was in no shape to fight even now, but Dinah had been itching for an excuse to pour out her own aggression and frustration.

The man took the initiative, launching at the small masked woman in a fury of speed and strength, but tempered with honest skill. She let him land a few blows, putting up a defense only, knowing the importance of 'face' in such encounters. She tempered her skill to his level, but she heard the whispers on the edges of the fight; her style had been duly noted from her opening move.

She kept most of her focus on the fight, prolonging it, without letting her level be fully revealed, until she heard the crowd reaction she wanted. By the sounds of obeisance and Jade's hissed intake of breath, Shiva had arrived.

She touched her opponent in two precise blows, and the champion they had put her against sprawled at the dangerous woman's feet, while Dinah stared through the mask at the woman feared under the name Shiva.

"Siu Jerk Jai." Dinah betrayed no surprise as the woman used her training name. It served to confirm all the rumors and intelligence.

"Paper Monkey, I presume," she said in English. Shiva inclined her head, then looked hard at Dinah's companion.

"Take her back out of the village." Her words were spoken in hard tones. "Siu Jerk Jai and I will converse, but this dog's excrement is not fit for our village," Shiva said with barely contained fury.

Dinah started to protest, but a subtle sign from Jade stilled it in her throat; she could only hope there had been no code given that would lead to her daughter's lover dying. Shiva beckoned, and the guards parted for the two women to adjourn to the feared woman's home.

"You know that I am not the same Siu Jerk Jai born to this world?" Dinah asked impassively.

"I do. If you were she, you would have already been killed, and your companion would be watching as I slowly carved out her entrails." Shiva regarded the masked woman briefly, before tea was poured for them both. "What I do not know is why you have sought me out, and what you are willing to bargain for that purpose."

"I am here for the sake of my child, and for my companion's." The woman reached up as the serving girl withdrew, leaving them fully alone at last. The mask came off, so Shiva could see her face, read her sincerity. "I will pay whatever it takes to get the children back. And all our information points to your daughter being the key to this."

`~`~`~`~`

Lian drew her strength from Lance. She watched day in and day out as Owlman Jr. came to taunt, threaten, and tempt the boy into becoming the new Talon. He might only be seven, but the boy was so much more advanced than his years. In all the time she had known him, casually at Teth Adam's, and now more closely by living with her mother in Rose's wing, she had never known him to cry.

That ended when Owlman Jr. left them that day. Lian was not sure what was happening at first, as Lance was prevented from making any noise at all. Then Lian saw the convulsive shakes of the small frame and knew. She had no idea what the slender young villain had done or said, but Lance was upset.

Lian wondered if that was possibly a good thing, remembering just how focused Rose got when she was upset.

`~`~`~`~`

Amoree screamed in terror, pain, and fear all at once, coming awake and alerting her servants that something was amiss. One was dispatched to go get their lord, only to have to scramble quickly away as the powerful man came to the sound of the scream.

"My desert bloom," the concerned father said, drawing her up into his arms, holding her gently.

"Oh father! I felt him! I felt Lance!" She sobbed a few times, and then choked one down as Teth realized her agitation was a result of the boy's mindset.

"Tell me, daughter, all you can." He stroked her hair, wishing for all the world that this had never befallen them, that the children had been peace holy in this war between them and the Owl family.

"I…he can't speak…at all…oh it's so horrible!" She clung to him, her entire body shaking. "The images in his head…Miss Dinah, lying there broken, unseeing open eyes," she whispered, her words taking on the polished accent of her best friend. "Momma, oh momma…no…."

Teth listened to Lance's voice, the way he spoke…but shivered in his soul to hear the pain in the words. There was no doubt Amoree had reached the boy, but it would take a lot of calming to use that link to their advantage. For now he held her, listened, and prayed to Amon that the boy had been tricked somehow.

The world did not need a Deathstroke the Terminator who had lost his Canary.

`~`~`~`~`

Slade strode into Alexi's office with a frown on his unmasked face.

"She's missing now." His voice intimated whom, in freezing tones. "I recovered her partner two hours ago and came straight here." The single blue eye bored into Alexi with an intensity the man had not seen since the first time they had captured Owlman.

"You know we'll do anything to help," Alexi promised. "We've been looking with every resource not committed elsewhere."

"I need to use Kestrel." Slade had a plan, but it hinged on the young woman. Alexi paused, his face betraying his unease as if he had said it aloud.

"I'm not sure that will be possible," Alexi hedged. He did not want to risk the young woman to those who had controlled her before, not when things between them had been moving so smoothly. It had been so smooth, in fact, that Kestrel was living in his home now, though neither had made a formal claim on the other.

"Think of all Canary has done for our world before you make that decision for her," Slade growled. "Let alone the two children out there, possibly suffering far worse torture than you or I have ever been through!"

Alexi closed his eyes briefly. "And if your nemeses pull her back under their mind control? Or however they did it the first time?"

"This is my wife and child I am talking about!" Slade growled. "Let her choose if the risk is acceptable; I will abide by her decision."

The seated man sighed and reached up, activating his communicator.

`~`~`~`~`

Dinah roused slowly, hearing the drip-drip of water in an enclosed tunnel a second before her brain processed the smell of tunnels, probably near sewage passages. She did not feel any restraints, and the last thing she remembered was taking tea with Shiva…

Her move to sit up ended with a young woman Rose's age, dressed head to toe in leather, pressing an arm into her throat, pinning her by sitting on her chest, the pressure enough to cut off her Cry.

"No leave. No move much," the woman hissed softly. "No talk loud." Dinah nodded, and the woman let her go. As the blonde sat up, she realized she was not in her Searcher uniform. That meant her typical trackers were gone. A rub through her hair let her know the earpiece was gone too. A quick check of her arm…she swore inwardly; they had cut her subdermally implanted tracker out too.

"We're under Gotham, aren't we?" The fully covered woman nodded once. "And you’re Cassandra Cain, the one they used to call Lady Raptor." She moved more slowly to get her legs in front of her, sitting in a forced pose of relaxed readiness. "Care to tell me why I am here? Or how?"

"Only way to get to children. You, me, roles to play." She nodded toward a small footlocker, where Dinah saw clothing much like she wore when out as a civilian, a collar and gag device, and handcuffs.

"I'm already not liking this plan," Dinah said. "But I have no choice."

"None."

`~`~`~`~`

Lance stared woodenly at the young Owlman as he was released from his restraints for the first time in four weeks. He had been preyed upon by those images of his mother for too long, and the second Owlman had detected no sign of fight in him for two days now.

"Any attempt to use you power on us, and the girl in the cell will be hurt severely," the thin Rogue said. Lance merely nodded, his eyes dull with weeping and lack of food. Lian could only watch in horror as her best friend slowly donned the original colors of the former Talon.

The newly proclaimed Owlman and Talon team devastated the East End on their very first night of terror. UltraBoy hung back, watching as Owlman manipulated Talon into using his power on the homeless, sending them at one another as if the whole of East End was one large cock fighting ring…with its residents as the prize fighters. Vandalism and arson soared, as Owlman continued to use his influence on the boy, testing the limits. It seemed that as quickly as Lance could create violence, he could calm it, and Owlman was seeing an entire city under his control, just as it had been under his predecessor.

At night, Lance was locked back in the cell, where his nightmares caused him to scream and rage through the night, terrifying his best friend Lian, across the way. When Lian tried to comfort him by voice, he turned his tear streaked eyes here way and compelled her silence, only relenting when she too began to cry, horrified by his power for the first time.

It was three nights after he donned the suit that the routine of going out, finding ways to terrorize Gotham into submission, stopped. Lance was not taken from his cell, not until much later, but they could hear explosions and the sounds of war. Lian dared hope for rescue, but Lance…the boy sat in his cell, hugging his knees, fingering his one white locke where it hung over his right eye.

`~`~`~`~`

Slade growled as he was forced to the floor in front of Owlman Junior…refusing even in his mind to grant the boy the full ascendancy to the original name. UltraBoy, another he would never grant that right to, kept the pressure on him, forcing him to stay down. He had waded through the majority of the forces, taking wounds as he did, until the pair of Spoiler and UltraBoy had taken him on. Spoiler, with her vulnerability to fire had gone down hard to his planning. He had been unable to deploy the kryptonite quickly enough to stop UltraBoy from slamming through his defenses.

Now, with several injuries he thought might be life threatening, he stared with hatred at the boy pretending to be a man, the one that had stolen his child, and his child's friend.

"Welcome, Slade Wilson. I hope you enjoyed your last battle," the slender Owl said, rising to walk around his prey.

"Not my last," Slade spat, feeling those super strong hands tighten on his neck and arm.

`~`~`~`~`

New noises above made Lian desperate. Everything her mother had ever said about escaping revolved around making distractions work for you.

"LANCE!" she screamed. "Lance, shake it off!"

"They killed momma," he said, turning haunted eyes her way. "Momma can't die, but they killed her. Pictures…" He clutched at his head, trying to banish the images.

"Lance…what if they lied!? Grownups do that!"

"He had her choker!"

"Did he let you touch it? Smell it?" Lian asked, forcing herself to think, remembering the little lessons Aunt Rose had given her on how to tell if someone was lying. Lance sniffled, but his brain began turning again, breaking free of the catatonia and the subtle conditioning Owlman had used to push the deception on him.

"No."

"Then Aunt Canary is alive...and we gotta get free!"

Lance nodded, standing up and going to the edge of his cage, looking…finally spotting the one guard just in the outer hall. "Hey!" He raised his voice enough to get the man's attention.

`~`~`~`~`

Slade felt the pressure on his neck increase, the fraction of a give in the muscle under that hard hand, and then it released, with the stench of burnt flesh.

"Should have paid attention to him killing your eyes, Timmy," Kestrel said spitefully.

"You little bitch!" UltraBoy said.

"Oh shove it, Kon!" She flew into him full burst, slamming him out of the room as Deathstroke rolled and snatched a weapon from a guard, turning it to find Owlman Junior already moving for cover.

Now, he thought, the hunt was truly on.

`~`~`~`~`

True to her word, Lady Raptor got Canary into the Owl complex without notice. She then turned off to pursue her own agenda, leaving Canary to follow hastily memorized plans to the detention levels. She moved stealthily, appreciating the way Cassandra's suit had molded to her skin to make movement so easy. She had haltingly explained it was a synthetic created by experimenting on the remnants of the Martians' costume, the same organism that enhanced Spoiler's skills…and gave her a vulnerability to fire.

Right now she appreciated its chameleon skills as she avoided notice by a hastily moving set of guards. She knew she had to be close and stepped around the next corner in hopes of seeing the cells.

`~`~`~`~`

Amoree gave a small cry, and clung to her father. "I can feel him again. He's very angry, very angry."

"Focus, daughter…he must be made to know his father is coming." The big man stroked her hair, willing her magic to work one more time for Lance's sake. The girl's head lolled back a moment, and then she clung tight to him in a hug of relief.

"Father…must be him above," Lance's tones said out of her mouth. "Go Amoree…I have Lian, and Father will soon have us, I prom…" As suddenly as the connection had been made, it severed, leaving Amoree clutching at her head.

"My desert bloom?"

"He…felt strong emotions, father…it broke the hold." She teared up at him. "Tell me the gods will guard them."

"If I have anything to say, they will…"

`~`~`~`~`

The battle in the main audience chamber of the Owl's lair was bloody. UltraBoy and Kestrel had slammed through a few pieces of furniture, each bent on damaging the other, and Kestrel slowly losing. Slade had managed to corner the Owl, but that was as deadly as cornering a rat was said to be. With his wounds, the outcome of this fight was no means assured, as Slade struggled to finding the right opening.

Just as if his brain had flickered a moment, cutting off his senses, there was a sudden disturbance in his fight, and Owlman Junior jerked. Nearly three inches of naked steel protruded from his chest, before he slumped and slid from the blade as it was lowered, revealing the fully masked face of Cassandra Cain, Lady Raptor.

"Save bloodkin. No fight today," Cain said in a deep, throaty growl when Slade faced her.

"Where is he?" Slade demanded.

"Not him. Her." She pointed back at Kestrel, being choked by UltraBoy who had not yet noticed the death of his lover.

"UltraBoy!" Slade roared, pulling a small pulse generator out and turning it on the Kryptonian clones.

UltraBoy reared back as the thing emitted Kryptonite radiation in waves, neutralizing him quite effectively.

"Move, Kes!" he shouted, unable to get close enough to pull her free. She struggled to do so, weakened, but not as affected due to her more human biology. Slade wavered on his feet, the blood loss getting too severe, and had to blink as he saw slender black clad arms reach down and pull Kestrel from under UltraBoy, out of range of the waves.

"Lance, help your father," Black Canary said, as the boy in Talon's original colors started moving to do just that.

"Knew you'd make it," Slade managed, as Canary clubbed the weakened UltraBoy over the head, ending his awareness of the situation before it could sink in that Tim was dead.

"Always," she said warmly.

`~`~`~`~`

Slade winced as Lance guided him into the seat of the transport Alexi had brought. His eye flickered over the colors his son was in, noting the way it had been cut to him. When he had first seen that costume, the boy wearing it had been a year or two older. Adeline had not left him yet, his sons were still at his side, and Owlman was barely a blip on the insane psychopath radar.

"You're staring, Father," Lance said softly, settling in his chair with Lian, trying to console her now that the aftermath was settling in, breaking her little spirit into hysterical relief.

"You bring back memories. I knew the boy who first wore those colors. I failed to save him from the path Owlman Junior was seeking for you." He watched as Kestrel took the second seat beside Alexi, the transport slowly lifting.

"You will have to tell me one day, father." Lance was a precocious child, one that had used far too much of his mental capacity since birth, but even he would not press when his father was quite this reminiscent.

"Black Canary to Alexi," crackled over the speakers.

"Go ahead." The pilot set them in motion.

"Tell my family I'll meet them at home once I am sure Ultraboy isn't going anywhere." She was the one dealing with the police, overseeing the meta crime unit's effort to take the clone and other henchmen into custody.

"Understood," Slade answered from his seat, still not liking her choice to be the one to remain. He suspected that she had news he was not going to like, concerning how exactly she had fallen off all their radars.

`~`~`~`~`

"Everyone's gone now," Canary said softly, knowing it was not necessary but needing to acknowledge her stalker.

"You understand." Cassandra rested her hand lightly on the woman's neck, and Dinah knew without doubt her life depended on the answer.

"Yes." The blonde did not move an inch, or let her apprehension show in her skin, her body. "I will honor Shiva's requirements."

"Good."

`~`~`~`~`

At CHAMP headquarters, Slade oversaw the gentle questioning Circe gave both Lance and Lian, to get the stories of their kidnapping and captivity straight. Hector Hammond 'listened', his face showing his surprise at how alert Lance had been until shown the pictures of his mother, and the choker he had thought was hers.

Once they had the full story from the children's point of view, to include rescuing themselves just as Black Canary got to them, Slade gave his view of the fight. He included the intervention of Lady Raptor, with lethal consequences. He had not seen her get fully away, being too concerned with handling the Kryptonian clone.

"Lady Raptor has no motive to fill the vacant power spot in Gotham," Black Canary said as she slipped into the briefing room. "She has interests elsewhere. We may one day cross her path, but for now…I suggest live and let live be the policy."

"She killed…" Alexi began.

"If you want to waste time and resources trying to find the leader of the League of Assassins…by all means," the headstrong woman said.

"Black Canary has a point, even if she is not, strictly speaking, a member of this body anymore," Sinestro said.

The blonde turned a tight smile his way. "Thank you for reminding me." Anything she might have added to the briefing fell behind guarded lips as she turned and left the room, going to the antechamber where the children waited.

"I believe that concludes my briefing as well," Slade said darkly as he rose. "You have the facts as we know them. Thank you, Kestrel; Alexi." Before anyone could speak, he had stalked out to gather his family, intent on taking them home and leaving the bureaucracy behind. When he found Dinah on her knees, face pressed into Lance's black hair, silent sobs of relief escaping her, he moved close and crouched, one hand on her back, one on his son's shoulder. His eye fell gently on Lian, and he beckoned to her with a pull of his head, drawing her into the circle of his arms and family.

"Never again," Dinah whispered. "Oh honey," she whispered, as Lian started to cry too. She drew the small red head into her embrace as well. "Let's go home, Slade."

"My thoughts, exactly, wife." He drew her up, watching her settle Lian on a hip, while Lance took her hand.

`~`~`~`~`

Rose and Jade both snatched up the children upon the plane landing, spinning them about. Lance touched his sister's eye patch solemnly, but she smiled and laughed telling him it was okay until he smiled back. Dinah stood in the loose embrace of her husband as Wintergreen came out briskly to greet the children.

"Going to tell me your adventure?" Slade asked in her ear, noting that Teth Adam and Amoree were arriving from the palace.

"Maybe another time, husband." She had no wish to go over the terms of the deal Cassandra had put across to her after she woke, on their way to the lair of the Owls. That Shiva wanted an heiress was a conversation best left to other days.

"I'll let it rest for now." He turned her into his embrace, kissing her soundly now that they were back together, with no pressing missions or threats on their household. She responded ardently, both hands coming up into his white hair to show just how much she had missed him.

Amoree peeked shyly at Lance as the boy took notice of her, holding tightly to her father's hand. She was a little uncentered, having felt his emotions during his captivity, but having been separated from him for so long. Lance noted the hesitation and smiled softly at her, stepping over to bow to Teth Adam.

"Sir, may I take your daughter on a walk? Just here in the courtyard." Lance could still feel the flickers of her presence when she had made those contacts with his mind.

"Yes, Lance." The big immortal gently gave her hand to the small boy, noting that his friend's son was more and more the picture of a perfect gentleman. Lance took Amoree's hand, then looked at Lian, who slipped free of her mother and 'aunt'. Together, the three small ones moved away to where they could be seen but not heard, renewing their friendship and bonds to one another in their own ways.

"They're going to be occupied awhile," Jade said softly, nodding toward Dinah and Slade as the pair walked toward the house. Rose nodded then looked at Teth.

"We'll watch over the children," she offered.

"I'm not needed for anything right now…I will stay with you to watch them as well." He smiled at the young woman and her older lover, approving the match he had witnessed since the Wilsons moved to his lands.

"I think, maybe, we can finally breathe again," Rose added.

"Amen, Miss Rose; amen," Wintergreen said in benediction.


End file.
